Battle Royale of the Sinners

"Still, that is an optimistic estimation. I believe he will send more edicts to our neighbor lords to make them attack our city."

Jia Xu continued. "From our relationship history with our neighbors, Liu Yan will definitely comply with the edict. But Han Fu and Yuan Shao forces will pretend to attack us in the surface while they were glaring at each other's throat."

"Han Fu and Yuan Shao? Yuan Shao is back at Nanpi?"

Jia Xu nodded. "Yes." He had received the letter from He Xing which gave him the recent update of the changes in Nanpi.

Both former Empress He and He Jin were now seeking asylum in Nanpi. In addition, Yuan Shao and his main family escaped from Luo Yang to this city.

From the content of the letter, Yuan Shao was dissatisfied with Liu Ping, and he wanted to help He Xing regaining back her influence power within the court. So that he could eliminate the eyesore, Liu Ping. It was so obvious to Jia Xu, Yuan Shao wanted to make both He Jin and He Xing his puppets in the long run. With both of them under his control, he could go on a rampage as if he was the Emperor himself.

Jia Xu had a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek. He was making a tough decision if he should reveal the identity of Liu Xie to Tong or not.

"Han Fu should not be a problem. I have a mole inside his force, but I've lost contact with him. Our latest spy reports said that he's the grand commander in Han Fu Army, but I don't know if he can switch to our side at the most crucial moment."

Hearing another shocking intelligence, Jia Xu snapped back from his thought. Another idea was inspired after he realized the existence of the mole.

"What's his name?" Asked Jia Xu.

"Zhang He."

"Good. Then we should lay siege on Ye City right away! Please give the order to the army now!"

"Wait, now?" Tong was puzzled, baffled, and amazed by Jia Xu's decisiveness.

"Yes. As soon as possible. And preferably we should rush there within a week at the latest!"

"May I hear your reason?"

"We'll talk as we proceed with the deployment. Please use your [Create Food] for the army provision and stock them in your space inventory for now. We'll rush the deployment. As the matter of fact, we will travel light with only weapons. The soldiers don't have to bring their armors on this trip."

Tong gulped. The request was absurd as they did not have enough information from Zhang He. If Tong were the local lords in this era, he would have denied this suggestion of Jia Xu.

However, Tong knew exactly how sharp Jia Xu was.

…

In the true history in 198, Jia Xu plotted against Cao Cao and drove him back at the battle of Wan Castle where Dian Wei and Cao Cao's eldest son was buried. Cao Cao wanted to continue sieging Wan Castle after his defeat, but the reports from the north terrified him.

The report said Tian Feng had advised Yuan Shao to attack Xu Chang, Cao Cao's Capital City. Afraid that Yuan Shao wanted to make a move on himself, Cao Cao and his force decided to retreat from Wan.

Zhang Xiu wanted to launch a counter-attack after he heard that Cao Cao began retreating, but Jia Xu advised against him not to pursue and predicted that Zhang Xiu would lose if he were to chase after Cao Cao. In the end, Zhang Xiu pursued Cao Cao's retreating force and was defeated, just like Jia Xu's prediction.

Regretted by not listening to Jia Xu's advice, he came back and asked Jia Xu again and consulted him if he could defeat Cao Cao.

This time, Jia Xu advised Zhang Xiu to launch a swift attack on Cao Cao's troops which contradicted to his earlier advice. Though doubted, Zhang Xiu heeded Jia Xu's words and launched a quick raid on Cao Cao' retreating troops.

He won that battle!

After Zhang Xiu returned, he questioned the reasons behind Jia Xu's suggestion, which he explained.

"Changes can happen in warfare. He has retreated his troops in the battle haft-way, there is only one explanation. Something might have happened at his bases, or someone threatened to invade his cities. When he retreated, I knew he would be the rearguard for his troops. Even though both troops are equal in terms of strength, Cao Cao is still a much better commander than you, general. Thus, you can't win. But after he defeated you, he would let down his guard and rush his troops into retreat and entrust his rearguard duty to someone else. Since his generals are no match for your leadership skills, thus you've won."

In that battle, Jia Xu demonstrated his battle-flow reading skills as he could grasp the changes in the situation and make use of it, which was one of the reasons why Cao Cao valued Jia Xu's talents and forgave his sins for killing his son and his bodyguard general after Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu surrendered to him in the year 199.

…

"I trust you." Tong passed Jia Xu his command token. "I'll give you my authority. Get our troops ready. I'll be going with you, too."

Surprised by the quick "Yes", Jia Xu gulped. He stared into Tong's eyes and pondered.

'Is he naïve, or does he trust me that much? But …'

Jia Xu could tell, Tong was sincere to him to the point that he had told him about his true abilities which could be seen by ordinary traditional scholars as fraudster's parlor tricks. But he did not afraid of Jia Xu seeing him as a trickster at all. That courageous confession could not happen if someone did not fully trust the other party.

'Should I bet everything on him? Should I leave a way out?'

'But if I left with Liu Xie, this force will perish by the hands of Yuan Shao!'

'Can Yuan Shao be this easy to talk to?'

'Can Yuan Shao be this sincere?'

'Can he give me the same wage as Zhang Tong has given me?'

'…'

'I'm stupid. The answer is fudging NO!'

'That moron is an aristocrat! Since he wants to manipulate even the former Empress, he won't treat me like what Zhang Tong did!'

The eyes of Jia Xu's flared up. He had made the decision.

"My, lord. There is another thing that you have to know."

"What is it?"

"The third prince, Liu Xie, is under my custody!"

Hearing Jia Xu's confession, Tong stopped speaking. He allowed Jia Xu to explain himself while he was trying to suppress his agitation.

The existence of Liu Xie or the future Emperor Xian was crucial in the power struggling in the Three Kingdoms Period. Tong could declare Liu Ping's coronation as invalid and make Liu Xie into another Han Emperor if he wanted to, but he would need a few influential people who could warrant the bloodline of Liu Xie.

Then, He Jin and He Xing came to his mind. They were with Yuan Shao!

The general picture of the situation was broadened in Tong's mind. He understood Yuan Shao's true intention now.

Jia Xu continued explaining and bowed. "There will be agents coming from Nanpi. He Xing had demanded the prince from me before I met you. I'm sorry that I kept this a secret."

Tong shook his head. "No, it's fine. This is sensitive information. Withholding this intel is a correct approach. If I were you, I wouldn't have told anyone too."

Listened to Tong, Jia Xu was relieved.

"Then what are you going to do with him?" Tong asked.

"For now, let's strike Ye City first. This matter is more urgent. For the rest of this matter, I'll explain to you as we rush to Ye."

…

In the late afternoon, all spies in the vicinity looked at the government in shock. An urgent dispatch order was issued from Tong.

Thirty thousand soldiers had to march from Julu City before the nightfall. The destination of this deployment was unknown, but they were heading south.

Because Bo Cai took all of his light cavalries with him to Changshan County and Zhang Liao troops took back their warhorses, Tong did not have cavalry in his army.

Tong had tried to import horses from other cities and counties before, however, he could only get retired workhorses which was not suited for cavalry battles.

Secondly, Li Feihong's promised first batch of warhorses would be delivered by the end of September as he had to let them grow up in his private world first. Ding Yuan's horses would also be delivered to Julu along with iron ores that Zhang Jiao had pre-ordered Ding Yuan to mine more ores.

All resource industries took times before they could be handed over to Julu.

Tong did not have a choice, he and Jia Xu rushed the troops to Ye City per Jia Xu's advice. Though he did not know why Jia Xu rushed him to do so, Tong still believed in his decision. Once he reached Ye City, everything should be revealed to him and the questions in his mind should also be answered.